‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Just Hit 1 Billion Viewing Hours and Netflix Fans Cannot Believe It

Few animated films in recent memory have managed to capture the global imagination the way ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ has. Released on Netflix in June 2025, the film was co-written and directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, and produced by Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix. It follows K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, who balance their lives as stadium-filling idols with their secret identities as demon hunters protecting fans from supernatural threats.

What followed the film’s premiere was unlike anything the streaming giant had seen from an animated title. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes handed the film a certified fresh score of 95 percent, while audiences rated it 99 percent fresh, and the New York Times described it as “charming, funny, and artfully punchy.”

The soundtrack also made history, becoming the first film soundtrack to place four songs simultaneously in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified double platinum in the US by October 2025.

Now, according to a post from What’s on Netflix on X, the film has crossed yet another staggering milestone. ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ has spent 46 weeks inside Netflix’s global top ten, amassing over one billion viewing hours and an extraordinary 617 million completed views. That places it at the very top of Netflix’s all-time rankings, making it the platform’s most popular English-language film ever.

The numbers become even more remarkable when you consider the awards momentum running alongside them. The film won Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Golden” at both the 83rd Golden Globe Awards and the 98th Academy Awards. On the music side, HUNTR/X became the first K-pop girl group to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Golden” became the first K-pop song in history to win a Grammy Award.

The creative team behind the film has been open about the cultural ambition baked into every frame of it. Director Maggie Kang said in a statement via Netflix Tudum, “I feel immense pride as a Korean filmmaker that the audience wants more from this Korean story and our Korean characters. There’s so much more to this world we have built, and this is only the beginning.” Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria echoed that sentiment, saying the film “ignited a global fandom that crossed languages, generations, and genres.”

A sequel has already been confirmed, with Kang and Appelhans returning to direct as part of an exclusive multiyear writing and directing partnership with Netflix. Given that the original has now spent nearly a full calendar year holding a place in the platform’s global top ten, the appetite for more from the world of HUNTR/X is clearly not slowing down anytime soon.

Let us know in the comments whether you think ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ deserves every bit of its record-breaking run, or if there is another animated film you feel should be wearing that crown.